


The Art of Sharing

by agustbubu



Series: The Art of Living [1]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Brotherly Love, Gen, Hangyul and Dohyon being cute brothers, Male Friendship, Nam Dohyon-centric, Platonic Relationships, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 15:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21147728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agustbubu/pseuds/agustbubu
Summary: Dohyon had realised at a young age that sharing things, if with the right people, wasn't bad after all. Unless it was food, that is. When Hangyul is brought into his life, he has to learn how to share much more than his favourite toys.(or Dohyon wants Hangyul to be his brother in every way possible)





	The Art of Sharing

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I have never written anything X1 related nor have I ever written a fanfiction that is focused on a friendship rather than a romantic relationship, so please keep that in mind whilst you're reading. 
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

As most kids his age, Dohyon wasn't always the best at sharing. It was when Jinwoo, a friend of his from kindergarten, got harshly rejected when he asked some older kids if he could play with their new and cool portable console that Dohyon realised that maybe sharing with those that deserved it wasn't a bad thing after all. 

In return for letting him use his toys, Jinwoo would often bring some sweets, sometimes he'd even sneak a cupcake or slice of cake, to share with Dohyon, a gesture that was hugely appreciated by the latter. 

Now that Dohyon was okay with sharing most things if it was with the right people – he still struggled with sharing food most of the times – he had to learn how to share people too. It was in the summer leading to his first year of primary school that his parents sat him down and explained to him what the word "adoption" meant. 

He wasn't new to the term, after all, even though Dohyon wasn't entirely sure what his mum did for a living, he knew that she worked in a field that dealt a lot with adopted kids, and so he thought he already knew what that meant, which was why he was very confused when his parents decided to explain it to him again. 

And then they asked him an unexpected question. "Would you be okay if we adopted a kid? You would get to have a brother!" his father sounded excited, and his mother looked happy at the thought, yet Dohyon was still confused. 

Dohyon didn't like to be mean, he loved when he made people smile, so he nodded. Having an older brother didn't sound like such a bad thing anyway. His parents then told him more about this older kid, Lee Hangyul, and just a week later, he met him for the first time. Just a week later, he suddenly had an older brother. 

Hangyul was like the sea. He reflected his surroundings, he was terrific to be around when tranquil but also caused damaged when in a tempest. He was also cold when everyone was warm, but at times he surprised you with warmth too. 

For the most part, Dohyon accepted his nature, but there were times he couldn't help but get mad at him. He would sometimes get in trouble with kids at school, but that wasn't what angered Dohyon. His parents were reasonably proactive and decided to help Hangyul as soon as they found out what was going on. 

So, on the days Dohyon would have piano lessons, Hangyul would go to taekwondo classes. At first, Dohyon was confused, if there were people that Hangyul argued with at school, then wouldn't taekwondo just teach him how to argue with fists instead? 

His curiosity led him to ask his parents about it, who kindly explained that it was a way for him to have a healthier outlet, and through that, he'd learn how to manage his anger. On that day, he learned what bullies were. A couple of days later, as he was walking home with Hangyul, he asked him a question that had been on his mind for a while. "Will I have problems with bullies too when I grow up?" Hangyul looked taken aback for a second. 

"Bullies?" Dohyon nodded as he looked up at him. "Nah, I'll make sure you won't." And that was the reason why Dohyon was mad at him. He didn't know what having a brother entailed, he wasn't sure if they were doing the siblings thing right, after all, he had no mode of comparison. He just knew he felt both protected and ignored, and that gave him mixed feelings.

When they were at home, Hangyul would sit with him as they watched shows that Dohyon was starting to think the older did not actually like. He would also help him with homework when his parents were too busy. He would do everything that his parents would usually do for him but in a more fun way. 

Yet, as soon as they entered school, Dohyon was a stranger to him. It's not like he expected Hangyul to play with him and his friends during recess, he knew that it wasn't a usual thing for kids in 5th grade to hang out with kids that were just in 1st grade. Still, they were different, they were supposed to be brothers. 

He didn't really know how to bring it up to Hangyul, so he went to his mum instead. "Mum, why does Hangyul hyung ignore me at school?" It was a Sunday, which meant that everyone was usually at home, but luckily for Dohyon, his father and Hangyul had gone out to get the groceries for the rest of the week. 

His mother distorted her gaze from the TV to focus her attention on him. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

Dohyon sat next to her. "We sometimes see each other at school, but he never even looks at me, not even when he's alone, why does he do that?" 

"Have you asked him?" he shook his head. "Well, I'm sure there has to be a reason, ask him and tell him that it's upsetting you, he's definitely going to tell you why."

He thought about it for the rest of the day, and on Monday, once they were both done with school, he decided to finally ask Hangyul. "Why do you always ignore me, hyung? Mum said I should ask you, so that's what I'm doing."

It was a very familiar predicament, Dohyon was confused, and partly hurt, so he was there asking an unprompted question to a very confused Hangyul. "I don't know," Hangyul shrugged. 

"I don't want you to ignore me, it's not nice," Dohyon told him, hoping that it'd be enough to make him change his behaviour.

"Oh, really?" Hangyul looked surprised. "I thought that—never mind, I'm not going to ignore you anymore, Dohyon, okay?" Dohyon nodded with a big smile on his face. Hangyul turned out to be a man of his word, as the following day not only did Hangyul say hi to him when they crossed paths, but he also smiled. Dohyon considered that the most significant achievement of his life. 

Eventually, the two started to be more open about their thoughts, and Dohyon even introduced Hangyul to Jinwoo, who was rather surprised to find out that after all, Dohyon hadn't been lying about having a new older brother.

In all honesty, Dohyon saw Hangyul as just Hangyul. He still wasn't sure if the relationship they had was brotherly, Dohyon felt like there wasn't much of a difference between him and Jinwoo, if not only the fact that Jinwoo had different parents. 

That was another thing that was still hard for Dohyon to process. On the one hand, his parents weren't just his parents anymore. And on the other hand, Hangyul had other parents somewhere else but also had his parents. He figured Hangyul must have been struggling too when one day he realised that he never used the words "mum" and "dad".

He thought about it even more when one day Hangyul bruised his knee. He wouldn't tell him why, so he had to ask his mother. It turned out that a kid had pushed Hangyul and when Dohyon asked why, he was told that the bully didn't like having a new person in their class. 

"Why is it hard to welcome someone new? We did it, and everyone is happy," his mother smiled kindly at him as she hugged him but didn't reply. Maybe Hangyul just wanted to be welcomed. After all, he was given the option to change schools, but he kept on refusing. 

_ Does he feel welcomed here? _ Dohyon started asking himself such questions, worried that maybe he didn't even feel welcome in their own home and because of that he wouldn't use the words "mum" and "dad".

As Dohyon thought that everyone deserved to have parents and to feel welcomed, he decided to go on a quest to make Hangyul feel like he should call them mum and dad. However, one week into his pursuit, he still had no idea what to do. 

It was on his birthday that he excogitated the perfect plan. As people were singing him happy birthday, he remembered that his—their dad's birthday was just around the corner, and if they sang happy birthday together, then Hangyul would have had no choice but to sing the word "dad". As he blew on the candles, Dohyon wished for Hangyul to become his family too. 

A couple of weeks later, Dohyon got Hangyul to help him decorate a cake that their mother had made and planned to enter their father's office as they sang happy birthday to him. "So, we go in, and then we're like 'Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear dad', and we ask him to make a wish," Dohyon repeated their plan for the third time just to be sure Hangyul understood.

"Yep, I got that," Hangyul was expressionless, as he was most of the times, but he didn't seem annoyed, and that was what mattered to Dohyon at the moment. 

They then got into the room and started singing in unison with their mother following them with her phone as she recorded it. Their father immediately turned around in shock and smiled once he realised what was going on. When Dohyon realised that Hangyul actually sang the word "dad" – in all fairness, he just mumbled it, but Dohyon still heard him, so it counted – he felt like crying. 

Once their dad blew on the candles, their mother got the cake and told everyone to go to the kitchen so that they could have some together. Before leaving the room, Dohyon hugged Hangyul tightly. "Thank you, you're the best brother ever." 

Dohyon then ran to the kitchen, where the cake was, while Hangyul stood there for a couple of seconds taking in what had just happened. Once Hangyul joined them in the kitchen, Dohyon ran to him with two slices of cake his hands. "Here, take this, it's bigger." 

Later that night, Dohyon went to Hangyul's room. It used to be a guest bedroom, and it also happened to be the smallest room in the house, but Hangyul kept insisting that he did not want to trade rooms with him. Hangyul opened the door a few seconds later with a very sleepy look on his face. "Can I sleep here?" 

"Sure," despite his answer, Hangyul sounded quite unsure. Still, he let the younger jump on his bed and joined him. 

"I was afraid, you know?" Dohyon blurted out, trying to break the silence between them.

"Afraid? Of what?" Hangyul made himself comfortable and closed his eyes. 

"I thought mum and dad would love you more and pay more attention to you, I even once cried to dad about it." It wasn't his proudest moment, and he now felt stupid for thinking that. 

"I would never take away from you something that's yours, though." Dohyon knew that now. Ever since Hangyul's arrival, he had never tried to even get a toy from him, he never interrupted his conversation with their parents, and he never stole food from his plate. 

Even if at first it wasn't easy to share his parents with someone new, he figured that he had to get used to it. And as they spent their afternoons together, as Hangyul cheered for him whenever he'd play the piano, as he looked happy whenever they would all show up to taekwondo practice, Dohyon slowly decided that Hangyul was worth it. 

Dohyon got under the covers and got closer to his brother. "I know that, but we're brothers, and brothers can share everything!" 

Hangyul chuckled and put his arm around Dohyon. "Goodnight, Dohyon." 

Dohyon closed his eyes, and a few moments later, as he drifted to sleep, he thought that if it was with Hangyul, he was willing to share anything. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked whatever this was, I am planning on writing more stories based in this little universe I have created, so if you're interested keep an eye on [this collection](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525052). 
> 
> If you have any thoughts to share, feel free to do so by leaving a comment, any feedback is always appreciated. Either way, thank you so much for getting to the very end <3
> 
> (shameless plug: here's [my twt](https://twitter.com/agustdolce) for anyone that wants to chat about x1 or anything else really)


End file.
